Our 5 ½ hour non-stop flight from San Diego landed at Boston Logan about 30 minutes early, about 7 am.  Our luggage arrived quickly and using 2 of the $6 each luggage carts we wheeled our bags out of the terminal to meet our prearranged driver.  Drivers are not allowed into baggage claim, so you have to be ready to move your own bags about 200 yards, across a couple of lanes of traffic to get to the waiting spot for pre-arranged commercial pick-ups.  There are plenty of signs marking the way.  We didn’t spot any skycaps available to help with bags.

We are staying at the Hampton Inn Boston Seaport which is about 4 miles from the Airport and about 4/10 of a mile from the Black Falcon Cruise Terminal.

Arriving at 8:15 am we anticipated waiting in the lobby until the 3 pm check-in time, but we were pleasantly surprised to learn that our room was available and we went to our room to relax.

After a leisurely breakfast in the lobby, we walked over to the cruise terminal to get a feel for the area before the busy check-in tomorrow.

The cruise terminal is called the Black Falcon Cruise Terminal and occasionally the Flynn Cruise Terminal – These are the same as there is only one cruise terminal in Boston.

Note:  Our check-in time is 11:40 am.  But Holland America has lost all its credibility with the check-in process because you will get a VERY IMPORTANT email with a different check-in time every few days in the weeks leading up to your departure time.  These emails often have conflicting messages and times.  We’ll see what happens tomorrow.  There was also an email saying the earliest check-in was going to be 1:30 pm due to a Coast Guard Inspection, but then we got more emails with yet a different check-in time.

We took a nap in the afternoon before heading out to the nearby Yankee Lobster Company for dinner.  We enjoyed a Lobster Roll, Fish and Chips, and some crab cakes.  All the food was very good.  Seating was both inside and outside.

The Yankee Lobster Company is about 4/10 of a mile from the Hampton Inn.

Our cruise group – from L-R, Brad, Cindy, Pete and Judy

Norah Jones was scheduled to perform at 8 PM at the adjacent Leader Bank Pavilion, so the restaurant was probably more crowded than normal for a Tuesday evening.

Back in our room, we are getting everything ready for the big day tomorrow.

Coming tomorrow – The drink-a-day challenge!